arielb1

Well, thanks to everyone here, I finished my first head gasket replacement. Boy, I have learned so much here on HT. Thank you so much for everyone's advise and teaching me basic mechanic skills. Your time and expertise is so appreciated.

I plan to do a write up on my head gasket change just like I did for my timing belt and repairing my cooling problem. I have plenty of pictures to share with everyone.

After I change the head gasket, all worked fine. My engine runs much quiter now. However, now when I race the engine and take my foot off the gas pedal, the engine's idle dipps very low and at times the engine dies. The engine would dip so low that the headlights and interior lights would dim very low. If the engine doesn't die, the idle would slowly creeks upward to an acceptable idle within 5 to 10 seconds. Even then the idle would still be very low. I was told to add gas additives and fuel injector would help tremendously. What do you think? Do I need to adjust the idle screw? I know about the idle screw but have never adjusted it. Any ideas.

I will have my headgasket write up in about one week. If you are interested, email me at arielbanzon@yahoo.com. I would happy to give back what I have gotten here. I hope you do the same for others. Good Karma is a good thing. Oh, I ordered my parts from Hondaautomotiveparts.com. They did not ship complimentary two day, but shipped 5 day ground. Be advised.

Regards and good karma to you.

civictildeath

i have like no tech input but my car idles that low at temp all the time. i believe it is fuel related

jlacoy82

Im not of much use either, but my car when warm idles around 600rpm.

$300lude

my wife had a mitsubishi galant that would do the same thing if the battery was ever disconnected to service the engine. Would idle low and sometimes die when it was put in gear. The remedy was to let it sit and idle for about 10 minutes so the ecu could adjust after being reset. I've owned a civic and have a prelude, but haven't had this happen with them after disconnecting the battery. Just a thought though.

_Cyclone_

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by $300lude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The remedy was to let it sit and idle for about 10 minutes so the ecu could adjust after being reset.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly. Drive it for a couple of weeks, it'll probably work itself out.

arielb1

Update:

You are right Cyclone. I drove the car around for 10 minutes. The problem worked itself out. The car is running great now. Thanks a bunch.

lohatch

did you check your igntion timing after you put the head back on???

JDM_Ej

Yea dude.. i hope you checked timing.

BauleyCivic

What they all said about ignition timing 16 btdc ownz j00

Also, did you properly set cam timing?

arielb1

Hey Everyone

Thanks for telling me about timing. I had no idea about the timing that needed to be calibrated. I have a friend who is a Honda mechanic. He will show me how to use a timing gun but I have to wait three weeks. Although he is charging me for the lesson, I think it is well worth it.

If anyone has a thread or a write up on how to do timing on my Civic, I would be most grateful. I have the money to buy the tools like a timing gun, but dont really know how to use it. Any suggestions on a timing gun would be great too. I have a 4runner and a Accord. Can I use the same gun on those cars as well? How difficult is it to time a car?

Thanks for the help...and yes, I do feel the love.

BauleyCivic

How to: Set ignition timing

1. Get a timing light, and hook it up per the instructions.
2. Loosen the distributor.
3. Jump the ecu with a paperclip, and turn the car on.
4. Point the timing light at the ECU. There are 4 marks, 3 together, and 1 that is over to the right a little bit.

-If you have an adjustable timing light: Set the dial to 16 and move the dizzy until the lone mark is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.
-If you have a non-adjustable timing light: Move the dizzy until the mark in the middle of the 3 marks is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.

5. Tighten Distributor.
6. Unplug timing light and take paperclip out of service connector.

You said you did set cam timing right?

Sehc Tib Alli Zerif!!!!!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BauleyCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How to: Set ignition timing

1. Get a timing light, and hook it up per the instructions.
2. Loosen the distributor.
3. Jump the ecu with a paperclip, and turn the car on.
4. Point the timing light at the ECU. There are 4 marks, 3 together, and 1 that is over to the right a little bit.

-If you have an adjustable timing light: Set the dial to 16 and move the dizzy until the lone mark is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.
-If you have a non-adjustable timing light: Move the dizzy until the mark in the middle of the 3 marks is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.

5. Tighten Distributor.
6. Unplug timing light and take paperclip out of service connector.

You said you did set cam timing right?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Timing is easy to set, you can do it.

BauleyCivic, great post!!!

Turbo E

good work ariel! now I know where you've been for the last while :D

arielb1

WOW ! ! !

thanks Bauley for the reply, and instructions. Yes, I did set the cam timing correctly as per manual instructions. However, you descriptions on doing the timing has me a little lost...and I qoute you below;

3. Jump the ecu with a paperclip, and turn the car on.
4. Point the timing light at the ECU. There are 4 marks, 3 together, and 1 that is over to the right a little bit.

-If you have an adjustable timing light: Set the dial to 16 and move the dizzy until the lone mark is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.
-If you have a non-adjustable timing light: Move the dizzy until the mark in the middle of the 3 marks is at the TDC mark on the engine cover.

I have to figure out how to jump the ecu. I will look this up on the manual. Why would I point the timing light at the ECU. I thought the light is used to point to the crankshaft. I guess when I buy a timing gun this will all make sense. Oh, what is a dizzy? Thank you. Sorry I am so clueless. I am trying though.


I will pick up a timing gun this weekend. The posting below is very informative and I feel I can accomplish this task. Any suggestions what brand? Otherwise, I wil get one from Autozone or Sears.

Hey Turbo...Thanks for your help too! You inspire me to learn more about my cars. Thanks guys....Thank you very much.

BauleyCivic

There are two kinds of timing: cam timing, and ignition timing.

Ignition timing is how the spark plugs fire in relation to the position of the pistons, and cam timing is how the valves open in relation to the pistons.

You want the cam gear to be at tdc when the timing mark on the crank pulley is at tdc, and you want ignition timing to be about 16 degrees BTDC (with most honda motors)

Which motor is this on?

arielb1

The motor is a DY618 or something like it. My computer hard drive crashed that has the info. I have a Civic 1996 ex 4 cylinder. I am trying to look the engine as well. Thanks Bauley. What is a dizzy? please elaborate.

MikeD718

d16y8, dizzy is the distributor

jay.dee.em1

along with the timing i would make sure you tightened everything down to factory spec when you replaced the headgasket

BauleyCivic

Ignition timing will be 12 degrees then (i'm pretty sure, if someone else could verify), but you'll use the same process I outlined above, except if you have an adjustable you'll use 12.